8) Underachievement of boys in Education

Educational achievements for both genders have increased over the years, however boys are being outperformed by girls. There are several reasons for this female dominance:

The Women’s movement – Women’s movements have raised expectations and self-esteem of women considerably. Now women feel they can be more ambitious so are performing better at school

Growing ambition - Women now have a much higher level of ambition than in earlier years. This could be due to more positive role model such as Margerate Thatcher and more female doctors showing girls they can achieve. Or it could be that there are now more job oppurtunities for women, so they have something to strive towards.

Girls work better and are more motivated – Evidence suggests girl work harder than boys in education. This involves spending more time on work, greater concentration, more organised etc. Becase of this girls on average have benefited more from the introduction of coursework.